


Fandot Creativity Night 7

by timeladyleo



Series: Fandot Creativity [6]
Category: Cabin Pressure
Genre: F/M, Fandot Creativity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-11
Updated: 2015-05-11
Packaged: 2018-03-30 03:04:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 1,753
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3920539
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/timeladyleo/pseuds/timeladyleo





	1. Calendar

Carolyn's calendar was rarely empty for more than three or four days in a row. Mostly it was full of trips, each flight marked carefully in a specific red pen. Often there were other tasks written on, the day that the car needed a service or doctor's appointments and so on. Occasionally Arthur added his own events on, quite often in a strange colour which wound up Carolyn to no end when she had to read about Arthur going out with one of his pony club girlfriends in glittery purple.

The kitchen calendar was a functional object, and Carolyn prided herself on keeping it so. However boring most of the days were, there were some that Carolyn secretly looked forward to, smiling to herself when she was reminded of them. At first, reminders for the opera were an annoying reminder of how much Herc loved the silly things, and the reminder often earned a scowl.

But as time went on, she found herself looking forward to dates, even if she refused to call them so. Arthur also seemed to look forward to Herc coming over, always excited to see him. Carolyn found her calendar become filled with more and more things to enjoy. Seeing opera became more enjoyable, and she found herself visibly looking forward to it, even while trying to hide it. 

Eventually, things like seeing Martin and Theresa appeared, taking all of OJS out to Vaduz to visit. Their royal wedding was a date that everyone looked forward to, and everyone enjoyed. And, loathe as she was to admit it, the other wedding on the calendar was one Carolyn was also looking forward to.


	2. Special Clearance

Arthur usually ended up buying clothes from special clearance, because he didn't see what difference it made if a shirt's hem was sewn slightly wrong. It wasn't like anyone ever actually looked at the stitching of a shirt, so why should it matter so much? It also meant that it was cheaper, and while Arthur had no problem with paying full price for something, Carolyn was glad that he didn't spend more money than necessary on things. 

He also quite enjoyed the special clearance section in the supermarket, the one where food that was about to go past it's 'display until' date was put for sale at a low price. This was great, because if he bought cakes that were about to go out of date, that meant he could eat them all with a good reason. He didn't need a good reason to eat cake, but he also didn't like thinking about all the food that would go to waste just because of a printed date on the package. 

Carolyn was less pleased at this, because it gave Arthur the excuse to eat as much cake as he wanted. And she never found him with fewer than three boxes of mini cupcakes, all empty.


	3. Would you rather...?

"Would you rather… fight a goose or a duck?" Arthur asked, beaming at a confused Herc who had been trying his best to keep up with the relentless questioning. He thought that Arthur would have eventually run out of silly questions to ask, but half an hour later he showed no signs of tiring. 

"Well, a duck? Yes, I suppose a duck because they're smaller." Herc couldn't possibly imagine why on earth he would need to fight a duck, but logically he'd rather fight a small animal than a big one. 

"Brilliant! What about a swan or a goose?" Herc frowned, thinking about his answer. He couldn't help but wonder if he was thinking too far into it, but still he was going to try his best to play along. 

"Hmm. Well, I suppose a goose, because though they're a similar size, swans are quite vicious. Although…" But Herc didn't have time to further question his reasoning as Arthur had already moved on. 

"I've got a great one! Would you rather have Douglas or Martin for a captain?" Arthur's grin shrunk slightly as he saw Herc's surprise at the question. 

"I would have to have flow with them both to answer that." Herc said deliberately, somehow feeling that saying one or the other would get reported back, leading to teasing. Arthur's disappointment at the non-answer didn’t last long, as he jumped into another question. 

"How about: would you rather fly with me or mum as cabin crew?" Arthur looked at Herc expectantly. 

Herc didn't hesitate this time. "Oh, both of you for certain. You could make even the most boring flight entertaining, I'm sure, and- well, as you know, I love your mother, so any flight with her would be nice." 

Arthur beamed at the compliment, surprising Herc again by launching into a hug. "Thanks, Herc. You're brilliant!" Herc smiled, about to reply in hope that that was the end of the game. But before he could speak, Arthur began to question him again. "So, would you rather…?"


	4. Connected Colours

Arthur leapt into the living room, disturbing Herc's peaceful reading of the newspaper. He looked up to see Arthur holding out his phone, almost bouncing with excitement. 

"Look at this brilliant app, Herc!" he said, seating himself next to Herc who folded the paper and set it to one side, groaning internally. The last time Arthur had tried to get him to play a silly and annoying game, it hadn't gone well. Herc was not good at technology, much to Carolyn's frustration, and could barely text, let alone work apps. It had taken him long enough to get used to a touchscreen. 

Arthur put the screen right in front of Herc's face, telling him to look. Herc took the phone carefully and moved it so he could see it. On the screen were several coloured dots, some with colourful connecting lines. Herc looked at Arthur, baffled. 

"What exactly do you do with this?" he asked. Arthur took the phone back off Herc and set about connecting the dots, holding the device so that Herc – who was still completely lost – could see. 

"It's not difficult really, all you have to do is connect the dots that are the same colour! But none of the paths can cross, and you have to fill the whole screen with colour. It's really fun! Try it!" Arthur finished off the level he was playing, and set a new one up for Herc who took the phone back like it was made of glass. 

Herc squinted at the screen, the bright colours making his head hurt. With one finger, he dragged a line to try and connect the dots. It took him a while to figure out how to actually draw the lines, but eventually he got the hang of it. He handed it back to Arthur. 

"Well, that is one of the better apps I suppose. Is there any way of making the screen less bright?" Arthur laughed, telling Herc that the whole point of the game was to look at the bright colours, because colours were obviously supposed to be bright and fun. Herc disagreed slightly, but didn't have the heart to tell Arthur. 

"Now try this app!" Herc grimaced. Somehow, he thought he would be there for some time.


	5. Cold

“You’re pacing again. Stop it.” Carolyn glared at Herc from the sofa. He had been wandering back and forth for the last five minutes, arms folded and hunched over. 

“But it's cold, Carolyn. Is the heating on?” he grumbled. Carolyn rolled her eyes and sighed, exasperated. At least once a day Herc complained about the temperature. Usually he was too cold, but on the occasion the sun was out, it was almost a guarantee he’d be too hot. This constant complaining wound Carolyn up to no end, and she was beginning to wonder if he was doing it on purpose just to wind her up.

“No, and it’s not being turned on. It is perfectly fine. If you’re cold, go and put on one of your stupid jumpers.” Herc pouted, looking almost offended at the insult to his jumpers, which came in a variety of ridiculous colours and patterns. 

“My jumpers are perfectly fine, thank you.” Carolyn raised an eyebrow, causing Herc’s pout to deepen. “And it’s not that cold, it’s just- hey!”

Herc jumped as a sock hit him square on the head. Carolyn smiled sharkily, brandishing another balled up sock ready to throw. “Where- why- but- ow!” Herc stammered, jumping again as the next sock hit his ear.

“That didn’t hurt.” Carolyn scoffed, producing yet another sock. For a while she had been planning this, taking to carrying balled up socks in her pockets in case she got the opportunity to attack Herc with them to punish him for being annoying for whinging about the cold all the time.

He raised his hands after the third one hit his nose. “Fine, okay! I give up!” 

Carolyn smirked as he sat down, pleased at proving herself superior yet again.


	6. Beach and Champagne

Arthur loved the beach. He always had done, ever since Carolyn had taken him when he was little. He loved the feel of the sand, the sound of the waves and trying to make the biggest sandcastle _in the world_. Even though he knew that technically wasn't possible, it couldn't stop him from pretending. 

Persuading Herc to take him and Carolyn to the beach, however, had been tricky. Herc was not as fond of the beach as Arthur: he found sand annoying and beach-goers some of the worst people in the world. Arthur couldn't tell if he was exaggerating or not.   
Eventually it had been Carolyn who had put her foot down and driven them to the nearest seaside. She had grown tired of Arthur's nagging of Herc, and of Herc's increasingly weak excuses. She suspected he was frightened of seagulls, but would save teasing about that for later. 

The whole day, Herc had complained. He had complained about the fish and chips because he couldn't have any, he had complained about the sand going everywhere. He had even moaned about the sea smelling too much like the sea. Arthur hadn't noticed at all, but Carolyn became so infuriated at his whinging that she was forced to use her final resort. It was either that or gagging him. 

They were sat watching Arthur building wonky sandcastles merrily. Carolyn turned to Herc and said "If you look in the bottom of the picnic basket, there's a bottle of champagne." His face lit up as he looked, retrieving the bottle with the first genuine smile he had had all day.


End file.
